Although there are several different categories of vehicles, such as wheeled vehicles, tracked vehicles, marine vehicles and the like, within each category, there are generally large numbers of vehicles that are identical or nearly identical from a performance and operational standpoint. While the production of large numbers of identical or nearly identical vehicles may offer some advantages, the reliance upon large numbers of nearly identical vehicles also brings about a number of inefficiencies. In this regard, nearly identical vehicles may be deployed in a number of different situations with each situation demanding different operational characteristics from the vehicle. Since the nearly identical vehicles are not particularly adapted to the situations the vehicles are to be deployed, the operational characteristics of the vehicles may be somewhat mismatched to the requirements of the different deployment scenarios, thereby leading to inefficiencies.
For example, a military vehicle deployed to patrol the streets of a city and a military vehicle deployed to tow a radar unit would be called upon to perform in different manners. In this regard, the vehicle that is deployed to tow a radar unit would be expected to have an engine that is sized and a transmission that is geared in an appropriate manner to provide the power required to tow the radar unit. In addition, the vehicle configured to tow the radar unit may also be expected to act as a power source for the radar unit once the radar unit is deployed and operational. However, if the vehicles that are deployed in the different situations are identical or nearly identical, one design approach may be to design the vehicles to satisfy the most rigorous demands placed upon the vehicles from among all of the various situations in which the vehicles may be deployed. While a vehicle that is designed in such a fashion would be expected to satisfy the operational requirements of the various deployment scenarios, a number of the vehicles that are deployed in some of the less demanding situations would, in effect, have additional and unused capacities or features, thereby resulting in an inefficient design. Alternatively, the vehicles may be designed to have operational characteristics that attempt to strike a balance, or, in other words, satisfy the median requirement for the various situations in which the vehicles will be deployed. While vehicles designed in this fashion will likely not have as many unused resources, the vehicles also may not be able to fully satisfy the operational characteristics demanded by some of the more rigorous situations in which the vehicles will be deployed.
Vehicles, such as wheeled or tracked vehicles as well as at least some marine vehicles, are generally constructed by initially selecting the engine and the transmission, such as by selecting a particular size of engine and specific operational parameters for the transmission. The remainder of the vehicle may then be assembled around the engine and transmission. As such, the design of a vehicle may not be readily scaled so as to provide a similar vehicle of a different size. Instead, a different engine and transmission may need to be selected to satisfy requirements of the differently-sized vehicle with the remainder of the differently-sized vehicle then again being constructed about the selected engine and transmission.
Additionally, current vehicular design generally utilizes a number of unique interfaces between the various components with the interfaces sometimes differing from one type of vehicle to another type of vehicle. As such, it may be more difficult than desired to reuse or swap components between different types of vehicles. Further, a vehicle designed about a particular engine and transmission may not be readily altered or upgraded to accept a different engine, such as an engine constructed based upon improved technology. Similarly, the design of vehicles about a particular engine and transmission may also limit the adaptability of the vehicles to the demands of the particular situations in which the vehicles are expected to be deployed.
It may therefore be desirable to provide an improved technique for the construction of vehicles. For example, it may be desirable to provide an improved technique for the construction of vehicles that are more customized and may therefore be adapted to the demands expected to be placed upon the vehicle once deployed.